Margaret Croke

Margaret Croke is a Democratic state representative for the 12th District, first elected in 2020.¹ She previously served as deputy chief of staff at the Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity and worked on Governor JB Pritzker’s campaign.¹ In the legislature, she chairs the Financial Institutions and Licensing Committee and serves on the Revenue and Finance Committee.²

She proposes a "Budget to Bill" transparency system to let the public track state spending from appropriation to payment.³ She also wants to move funeral home licensing solely under the Illinois Department of Financial and Professional Regulation.⁴ She would revamp the vendor payment program so that financial firms make blind investments rather than picking which businesses to help, and would prioritize payments to keep small vendors and nonprofits afloat.³ She says the state must salvage remaining federal grants as federal funding is cut.⁵

In the legislature, Croke sponsored a bill to expand insurance coverage for in vitro fertilization.⁶ She also led efforts to prevent the closure of Chicago’s selective-enrollment schools.⁷